Gold holds steady at $1,500
Gold held on to the key support level of US$1,500/oz today, but failed to make any headway under pressure from the resurgent US dollar.
The greenback has been on the rise since Friday, when the Commerce Department unexpectedly revised its estimate for US GDP growth for the first quarter from 1.8 percent to 1.9 percent.
Today, traders were favouring the American currency for wealth protection as the greenback strengthened against the euro ahead of a crucial vote in the Greek parliament, which will take place later this week.
The Greek MPs are expected to vote on the next round of austerity measures on Wednesday or Thursday. The passage of the austerity bill is necessary for Greece to receive the next €12 billion payout from the European Union, which is key to keeping the debt laden country solvent.
Gold prices have fallen sharply over the past week, shedding about US$60 per ounce on profit taking.
Gold traded at US$1,500/oz in mid afternoon UK time. Silver and platinum moved in the same direction as the yellow metal, slipping to US$34/oz and US$1,677/oz respectively by midday.
Mining stocks were mixed today. Lonmin (LON:LMI) and Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) both posted small losses by midday, while fellow FTSE 100 constituent Fresnillo (LON:FRES) added 1 percent.
In the FTSE 250, Hochschild Mining (LON:HOC) and Petropavlovsk (LON:POG) lost nearly 2 percent and Aquarius Platinum (LON:AQP) pulled back 1.2 percent.
Condor Resources (LON:CNR) was among the top performing small caps today, advancing 11 percent by mid afternoon.
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